The New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves entered Monday's doubleheader in a strange circumstance. The circumstances got even weirder with an injury update surround a former Boston Red Sox ace.
The Mets won a thrilling, back-and-forth Game 1 to clinch a National League playoff spot. That meant the Braves had to win Game 2 to get into the postseason as well, which originally meant Chris Sale would take the ball for Atlanta.
Just minutes before the start of the second game, Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters that Sale would not pitch Game 2 after experiencing back spasms. Losing Sale for that start, given he's likely the front runner for the NL Cy Young award and nearly won the Triple Crown, could have been detrimental.
Instead, the Braves did enough with the bats to secure a 3-0 win and earn the No. 5 seed in the NL and a date with the San Diego Padres in the wild card round. Though the Braves got the job done, Sale's return is far from a given.
Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters that the left-hander is not expected to pitch in the series against the Padres, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. Atlanta will struggle on their cross-country flight to San Diego to piece together a starting rotation this week after a busy final weekend of the regular season.
The Red Sox community knows all too much about poorly timed injuries, often out of his hands, for Sale. After dominating his first two seasons in Boston and winning the World Series in 2018, the Red Sox lefty could not stay on the mound after signing a massive extension under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Sale made just 31 starts for the Red Sox after 2019, though he did make three more during the 2021 postseason that saw Boston fall just two wins shy of a trip back to the World Series.
This season in Atlanta offered Sale the chance to revive his career if he could stay healthy and he did just that. Sale posted an 18-3 record with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts. It's an incredibly encouraging season that unfortunately could end with a very different tune depending on how quickly Sale can recover.
The Braves seek their first title since 2021 and hope to give Sale more time to return with a deep playoff run.
